


Can You Say That In English?

by lossit_bay



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Humor, M/M, OT9 - Freeform, language learning, skz cant cook to save their lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2019-10-11 09:37:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 13,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17444405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lossit_bay/pseuds/lossit_bay
Summary: Stray Kids have a world tour approaching and their management suggests they learn English.The following is notexactlywhat management had in mind.This is stray kids family shenanigans with a bit of English learning on the side





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello this will be little English moments, maybe leading up to a plot. One appeared last time I did this so it might happen again.
> 
> This chapter just has the dance line but everyone will be involved soon. Told more or less from Hyunjin's pov since his interest in English is really endearing.

The N is back to front,” Hyunjin said quietly. He was watching Felix write because Felix wrote with slow, carefully neat letters and it was a fun game to try and guess what word was next.  
Felix growled in the back of his throat and scored through the word. “I'm smart in English,” he assured Hyunjin like he was afraid Hyunjin would leave him for being a dead weight.  
“You're smart in Korean,” Hyunjin said immediately, not letting Felix beat himself down for a moment. “I make mistakes like that too sometimes and I've been writing in Korean as long as I've been able to hold a pen.  
“But I make so many mistakes,” Felix sighed, pushing his notebook away. He pushed it with so much force it slid right across the table and tipped off the other side, crashing into the ground. Felix leant back, making no move to retrieve it. “I bet Chan-hyung was way better. He's not bad at anything.”

“He's bad at going to sleep,” Hyunjin offered. “And waking up. And walking in a straight line and saying no to people. Oh, and he's terrible at folding laundry. Did you see the crinkles in his shirt yesterday. It was like he'd-”  
“Jinnie, stop,” Felix said, laughing.  
“-football with it. Honestly-”  
“Stop.” Felix begged. “Stop!”  
Hyunjin stopped. He'd been nearly out of similes anyway.

Later he bounced into Felix's room and shoved his phone in the younger boy's face. “Hyung says Chan-hyung was bad at Korean too,” he said proudly.  
“Who-hyung?” Felix asked, pushing Hyunjin's phone to a focal length he could read. “Jinyoung-sunbaenim?” He said in surprise after finally being able focus on the screen. “Oh, it's 'hyung’ to you now?” Felix hummed teasingly. “How does it feel to be so close to your idol?”  
Hyunjin blushed. He was honestly still starstruck every time Jinyoung interacted with him but the older singer seemed to genuinely like talking to him so Hyunjin had reached out for Felix's sake. Jinyoung had been in the company before even Chan so he would know about the older Australian's struggles if there were any.  
“That's not important- read the message,” Hyunjin told Felix. “See, he said Chan-hyung was bad too. He just got away with it more because he was small and cute.”  
“I'm cute,” Felix said poutily, having finally read to the end of the message.  
“The cutest,” Hyunjin assured him even though that place clearly went to Jeongin. “And your Korean is getting much better. Even STAY have noticed.”  
Hyunjin was momentarily blinded by Felix's smile as close range.  
Thank you, Jinnie. _I love you,_ ” Felix said the last words in English, perhaps because they held more weight to him that way.  


“ _I love you too_ ,” Hyunjin said back and Felix giggled at the way his voice went small whenever his tried to echo English.  
_“I love you,_ ” Felix said again, putting emphasis on the letter V. Korean didn't have that sound and the Korean members often got lost finding the mouth shape for it.  
_“I love you_ ,” Hyunjin tried again. Felix nodded encouragely.  
_“I love you.”_  
_“I love you.”_  
_“I hate you,”_ Minho interrupted, coming to search his drawers for something.  
“Nooooo,” Felix whined. “Get him, Jinnie!”  
Hyunjin didn't need told twice and launched across the room like a homing missile, Felix close behind.  
_“I love you_ ,” Hyunjin said right in Minho's face. Minho pushed him away but a smile flickered on his face.  
_“We love you,”_ Felix attacked from the other side. Hyunjin gasped in realisation.  
“ _We love you._ ”  
“Yes fine, _I love you._ ” Minho conceded. He hugged them tight in a way that was more painful than loving. “You idiots do realise we have dance class in 15 minutes?”  
“ _Shit_!” Felix said and scrambled across the room.  
“I'm leaving in 5, with or without you,” Minho called as Hyunjin narrowly avoided running into the door in his sprint to his room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still working up to ot9, next chapter I promise. For now, family cameo.

Hyunjin made a beeline the fridge the second he was home. Thankfully there was a large pot of something on the 'Free For All’ shelf of the fridge that hadn’t been there when he left. Not bothering with a fork or a plate, Hyunjin ate it at the kitchen counter with the spatula he found left in it.  
“Thank you whoever made the food!” he yelled out into the dorm when he was done. ‘Done’ being when the rational part of his brain took the reigns back from hunger and reminded him he had a schedule in the morning.  
“It was Channie!” Woojin yelled back. “He's got headphones on.”

Hyunjin burst into Chan's studio, expecting to give his Hyung a surprise break for work and nearly tripped over his feet when he noticed the Skype call in progress.  
“Ah, sorry Hyung,” Hyunjin said, bowing his way out of the room. Chan waved his actions away.  
“No, no, Jinnie. Come in, what were you going to say?” Chan pulled of his headphones and beckoned him over until Hyunjin was at arm's reach then wrestled him into his lap. Hyunjin rolled his eyes at the boy onscreen who was watching with amusement and shifted on Chan's lap to allow the older boy to see past his shoulder.  
“I was just going to say thanks for the food,” Hyunjin said.  
“Ah! Did you heat it up? Is there any left?”  
“I just ate it cold. I left some but Felix might finish it,” Hyunjin said.  
“That's ok. Did Minho have something?” Chan asked.  
“I think he was making something,” Hyunjin shrugged. That satisfied Chan enough.

_“You're such a mum, Chris,”_ a strong accent teased. The boy onscreen was laughing.  
_“I don't even speak Korean and I can tell.”_  
Thankfully Hyunjin knew enough English to understand that much, even through the Australian twang.  
Chan made a face at the boy. _“I have 7 kids, what do you expect?”_  
_“8”_ the boy corrected.  
_“Woojin is a co-parent,”_ Chan explained.

_“Hi, Uncle Lucas,_ ” Hyunjin said teasingly and waved at the younger boy. _“How is school?”_  
Lucas made a noise of disgust at the mention of it. _“How's school for you?”_ he countered.  
It was Hyunjin's turn to make the noise. “ _Too early,”_ was the best he could voice his complaints in English.  
_“Speaking of school, it's bedtime for both of you.”_  
Chan cut in. It was met with matching groans. “ _Good luck with your races this weekend, Luke. I'm sure you'll do great. Tell everyone I said hi._ ”  
_“See you soon?”_ Lucas asked hopefully.  
_“Yep, soon,”_ Chan promised. “ _Goodnight, I love you.”_  
“ _Yeah, bye,”_ Lucas answered, still too much of a teenager to show affection. “Bye Hyunjin,” he added in Korean.  
“Bye Lucas,” Hyunjin said, waving as the connection ended.

“I meant that, Jinnie,” Chan said, slapping his butt to get him to stand. “Bedtime.”  
“Yes, mum,” Hyunjin said, rolling his eyes. “Goodnight.”  
“Night, Jinnie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I regret picking a fic that needs so much italics. Does it make the language switches understandable though?
> 
> I don't really have an idea of where this fic is going. I might have to learn some Korean. Or Australian? How do I explain accents I don't have?..hmm


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ot9! Ot9! Ot9!
> 
> (Also if you are confused lift=elevator. I know American English but you can pry my British spellings from my cold dead hands)

Hyunjin wished he'd known their morning schedule was just one long meeting. He wouldn't have put half as much effort into his appearance if he'd known. Obviously he would have still made some effort but he definitely would have gone back to sleep for longer.  
“I don't think we need to learn English when half the team are already fluent,” Changbin commented as they headed for lunch.  
“I think I want to take the lessons,” Seungmin said. “I'd like to be able to use more complicated sentences.” Hyunjin gave him an encouraging smile. It wouldn't be Seungmin if he wasn't striving to be the best academically.  
“Am I not a good teacher?” Felix asked, pulling on Seungmin's arm.  
“You are,” Seungmin said. Hyunjin could hear a 'but’ coming. “But you don't know the grammar rules because you've never had to think about them. I might understand better with a proper teacher too.” Seungmin smiled worriedly at Felix but Felix couldn't hold a grudge to save his life and was already excited to join a conversation about the lunch menu.  
“Maybe I should get English lessons,” Chan joked as they stopped to wait for the lift. Then he frowned. “Maybe I should.”  
Woojin dragged him, still pondering, into the waiting lift. “Lunch first, English later.”

“Are you going to learn?” Jisung asked Minho.  
Minho gave a noncommittal shrug. “I'm not good at languages,” he replied. “I'll leave the English to you.”  
“You do realise Sungie's English is mostly fratboy noises,” Chan said, overhearing their conversation as they filed out of the lift.  
Jisung squawked in indignation.  
“It is not!” he protested.  
“Ok,” Chan grinned. “Please explain the underlying themes of the song _Broken Compass,”_  
_“Uh, well, the themes, you know, are uh, being lost and, you know, taking a different path. Uh, how music, uh, you know, uh..”_  
Chan patted his head to stop the younger boy. “That was five 'uh's and three 'you know's,” he told him. “You can stop talking if you need to think, _you know?”_  
Jisung swiped his hand away. “Don't bully me,” he grumbled but let Chan cuddle him as they waited their turn for the server. “You know that was hard.”  
“I know,” Chan agreed. “Jisungie is really good at English,” he told Minho. “He just needs practice.”

“Do you think Chan-hyung will teach me English,” Jeongin whispered to Hyunjin once they were sat with their food. “I think I'll be too nervous with the company teacher.”  
“He'd love to, Innie,” Hyunjin assured him. “Just be careful you don't end up only knowing Aussie slang.”  
“ _G'day mate,”_ Chan whispered from behind them, having gone up to the server again for more food.  
Jisung fell out of his chair. Jeongin slapped Chan across the face on reflex and sent his tray flying.  
“You deserved that,” Woojin said, not even looking up from his food 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ot9! Ot9! Ot9!
> 
> I'm so much happier when I can include everyone


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fact I continued to write spelled as spelt throughout this only further proves how stupid English is.

_“Hyunjin-ah, can you wash the dishes?”_ Chan asked. Hyunjin and Jeongin were helping him cook dinner and he was testing their English. Hyunjin nodded and went to the sink where a pile of plates from that morning were stacked. He paused just before he reached for the soap and turned.  
“That means wash up, right?” He checked.  
“Yeah,” Chan answered. “Good job. You boys don't need teaching at all.”  
Jeongin snorted. “Woojinnie-hyung does. And Changbin-hyung gets grumpy when he can't understand Lix-hyung.”  
“Oh I know,” Chan said fondly. He checked the rapper wasn't lurking in the corridor then let his apprentices in on a secret. “He gets grumpy when we write English raps too. Our Binnie doesn't like being left out.”

“Irruminaded-” Hyunjin huffed and rolled his tongue. “Irrumin. Illuminad.” He sighed and decided to skip the word, launching into the rest of the verse with more enthusiasm. _“-by the light of my laptop.”_  
_“Chop, chop! I'm cooking up a hotpot.”_ The three of them yelled together, Chan singing into a spatula and dripping sauce all over the floor.  
“J. Onnnnneeee!” Jisung screeched from his room and was promptly scolded for by at least three other members who had had to hear it at close range.

 _“Innie, can you get the flour?”_ Chan asked once there was relative calm in the dorm once more. Chan was focused on the recipe book in front of him and missed Jeongin's confused frown.  
“Sure, Hyung.” Jeongin replied and wandered out the room in search of flour.

“Jinnie-ah, where did Jeongin go?” Chan asked a few moments later when he needed to add the flour. Hyunjin shrugged and wiped soap bubbles across his forehead as he tried to get his hair out of his eyes. Jeongin slid back into the room, slinging a flower crown onto Chan's head with a proud smile.

“Innie-ah?” Chan said, unsure of what question to ask first. Thankfully they were all answered with four words.  
“You asked for _flower_ ,” Jeongin said, pointing to the crown.  
_“Flower_ ,” Chan said, dumbfounded. _“Flower, oh Innie._ Aish, you're too cute,” Chan laughed. Then he looked at Jeongin's sad and puzzled face and laughed harder, bending over to brace his hands on his knees. The flower crown fell off his head and that was the final straw for Chan as he dissolved into giggles on the floor.  
“I don't get it,” Hyunjin whispered to Jeongin.  
“He asked for flower,” Jeongin said and then gestured at the result in confusion.

“We smelled burning,” Jisung announced, poking his head into the room. Seungmin pushed past him and actually addressed the problem, stepping over Chan to turn off the gas.  
“Innie-ah, why is Chan-hyung crying,” Minho asked joining them, actual concern absent from his voice. He hung off Jisung, standing in the doorway.  
“He asked for flowers,” Jeongin said. They were now all just standing watching in fascination as Chan attempted to explain to them, but burst into a fresh burst of giggles before he could get a word out.

“Don't hurt yourself, Chan-hyung,” Minho told him sarcastically. Felix then crashed into Minho from sliding along the floor.  
“What's going on?” Felix asked, as Minho steadied him.  
“Chan-hyung asked for flowers,” they chorused monotonously.  
“Oh.” Felix said. “In English?” he asked.  
“Yeah,” Jeongin said, suspicious. “Why?”  
Felix laughed quietly and went over to a cupboard. He couldn't quite reach the shelf he was stretching for so Hyunjin lifted him up briefly. Felix turned back to the crowd.  
“ _This_ ,” he said holding up a large blue paper bag, “ _is flour.”_ Behind him Chan laughed harder.

“Why would they name them the same thing?!” Jeongin said in frustration. “How was I supposed to know which flour he wanted?”  
“We were cooking,” Hyunjin said, patting Jeongin's head.  
“They're spelled differently,” Felix offered.  
That only enraged Jeongin more. “That's WORSE!”  
His outburst brought the final members into the room. “Do I want to know?,” Woojin sighed. Chan was crying on the floor, their dinner was burnt and Minho was doing a valiant effort holding Jeongin back from accosting Felix.  
“Flour and flower are said the same but spelt different in English,” Hyunjin informed him, stepping forward to hide the fact that Seungmin was filming the whole thing. Woojin blinked slowly as he processed that information.  
“Channie-ah,” he called.  
“Yeah,” Chan answered waterily, sitting up and wiping his eyes.  
“Get off the floor and explain.”

Chan didn’t get off the floor. He conjured a marker and started writing on the tiles.  
“Cooking _flour_ is spelt like this. And makes the same sound as _hour_ and _our_ ,” Chan wrote the words in a neat column, circling their similar endings.  
“Wait, you said _hour_ and _our_ the same way.” Changbin pointed out.  
“Ah,” Chan smiled sheepishly. “The _H_ is silent in _hour.”_  
Jeongin threw his hands in the air. “Of course it is. Why make words sound different when you could guess?” he said sarcastically.  
“Flower-crown _flower_ is spelt like this.” Chan continued. “The same as, ummm.. _Felix help me out here.”_  
Felix looked pained, murmuring through the alphabet. _“Lower is different, so is mower.”_  
“You can’t find a rhyme?” Changbin asked, grinning as he tried to smooth Felix’s eyebrows back into their resting position.  
_“Shower_?” Seungmin offered.  
Chan pointed the pen at him, a grin lighting up his face. _“Shower! Thank you, Seungminnie.”_

“Maybe I should get Seungmin-hyung to teach me English,” Jeongin said.  
“You just have to memorise how every word is spelled,” Seungmin said, not looking up from his phone, typing furiously. He didn't see the many disgusted faces directed at him.  
“Some of us nearly failed school, Minnie” Changbin reminded him. “‘Just memorising’ an entire language isn't an option.”  
Seungmin finished typing with a flourish and turned to look Changbin in the eyes. _“Then perish,_ ” he said with glee. Every phone in the room vibrated and Jisung's let out a horrifying scream that only he flinched at.

“Just change it, Hannie,” Hyunjin said. The rest of them had become accustomed to Minho's programmed scream but Jisung still jumped every time.  
“I'd just make it worse,” Minho admitted.  
“It is entirely your fault when Hannie falls down the stairs,” Chan threatened. He was however still sitting on the floor trying to wipe his drawings off the tiles so the threat didn't have quite the effect he was hoping for.  
“Hey now,” Minho said, affronted. “Hannie falls down stairs all by himself.”

Their argument was interrupted Felix hi-fiving Seungmin enthusiastically. “Chan-hyung check your phone,” he said.  
That prompted everyone to open the notification they all got.  
“You filmed it?” Chan said, watching the muted video of his mental breakdown. “It looks like I'm drunk.”  
“Management's going to like that,” Woojin muttered sarcastically.  
_“There, their, they're,”_ Felix said, quoting Seungmin's Instagram captions as he patted Woojin's head.  
“Please tell me that's not how that's pronounced” Hyunjin said, looking up from his phone.  
Felix only grinned.  
Jeongin dolphin screamed in protest.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh would you look at that Woochan and angst that literally nobody asked for.
> 
> A wild plot appears, completely unrelated to the main arc of the story

They got takeout curry for dinner at Jeongin's request, Chan ordering enough to feed a small army. Yet when he opened the door to the delivery guy he was handed 2 pizzas. Chan smiled wearily at the man and waited until the door was shut to yell.

“Who-!” he started but stopped as Jisung ran up to him and took the pizzas off his hands with a winning grin.  
“Pizza!” Jisung announced and he was quickly lost as the gannets descended.

“I thought you wanted curry?” Chan asked Jeongin when they were all happily munching.  
Jeongin rolled his eyes. “I can want both, Hyung,” he said exasperatedly. 

Hyunjin high fived him and Felix said either _'don't make the boy choose’ or 'don't make the bi choose.’_ It was difficult to hear around the pizza. Chan chose not to ignore him in the hope the comment went unnoticed. Sexuality puns in English was at least two stages more than he could handle explaining right now.

“I.N-ah chew your food!” Seungmin whined as Jeongin reached for another slice.  
“You're not going to starve, Minnie,” Minho said, serving the younger boy the slice with the most chillis left.  
“But he's eating all the good slices!” Seungmin protested. He licked down the slice Minho served him, making narrowing his eyes at Jeongin as he did. As if that would dissuade anybody in the household. If anything, it would probably encourage Jisung.  
“Seungmin-ah,” Woojin said. He hasn't even looked up but the authority in his voice was undisputable. Seungmin moodily bit into his pizza but dropped the topic.

 _“Seungmin got in trouble~”_ Jisung sang teasingly, playing with fire.  
“I don't have to understand English to beat your ass, Han Jisung,” Woojin threatened like he was discussing the weather. He wasn't normally this tetchy and Chan wondered what had him in such a mood. Still, it was nice not to be the one ruining the fun for once.

“I don't think Woojinnie-hyung is _‘fine, thank you, and you,”_ Changbin whispered loudly. Minho placed his arm across Woojin's waist as the older boy tensed up, glaring at Changbin with just a little too much intensity to be playful.  
“That's enough,” Chan said. “Changbin-ah, that was out of line. Jinnie, go to the kitchen, please.”  
Changbin slammed his glass down on the table, water spilling over the wood. “Why do we always get in trouble but “Jinnie” gets away with everything!”  
“Changbin-ah, respect your Hyungs,” Minho said, raising his voice, a rarity for him. Chan gave Woojin a meaningful look to walk away before this got any uglier. Surprisingly, Woojin left the room without a fuss.  
“I'll respect them when Chan admits he's playing fucking favourites,” Changbin goaded.  
Chan bristled. He didn't favour Woojin, he was just.. worried. Worried a lot about him today in particular and Woojin was the eldest so if Chan didn't look after him nobody would.

“You idiot,” Felix hissed once Woojin was out of earshot, pulling harshly at Changbin's arm. “There's something wrong with Hyung and Chan-hyung's just trying to find out what it is.”  
Changbin deflated suddenly as the fight left him. “What do you mean something's wrong?” He asked quietly, looking to Chan for answers.  
Chan smiled gently at him. “I'm sure he's fine, Binnie,” Chan assured him. “He's probably just having a bad day.  
“A lot of bad days,” Hyunjin corrected. “He snaps at us a lot recently.” The others reluctantly nodded their agreement. The doorbell rang, probably the rest of their food and Minho slipped out to get it.  
“I'll figure it out,” Chan said, trying not to show how tired he was and went to find Woojin.

“What do you think is up with Hyung?” Jeongin asked quietly one the older boy was out the room. Minho returned with the curry but nobody was really in the mood to eat it anymore.  
“Maybe he's stressed with the comeback,” Hyunjin offered.  
“We're all stressed with the comeback,” Jisung scoffed. “He's not even the one writing the bloody songs. That's stressful.”  
“Yeah but maybe it's one of those mental things- Felix what was it?” Hyunjin asked, struggling to explain.  
“Which one?” Felix said. _“Depression, anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, depersonalisation-_ there's loads.

“Anxiety is your one, right Lix-hyung?” Jeongin asked.  
Felix smiled ruefully. “Yes Innie, I own all the anxiety. If you want a mental illness you have to pick another one.”  
“Chan-hyung can keep the insomnia then,” Changbin joked. “I don't want joint custody anymore.”  
Minho snorted. “If Chan-hyung gets the insomnia in the divorce does that mean you get the album writing pressure?”  
Changbin's eyes widened. “Fuck that, I'll take the insomnia. Why can't Sungie get the album pressure?”  
“I'm a minor,” Jisung said grinning at their game. “I can't legally own album pressure until I'm 20.”

“Woojinnie-hyung sleeps fine though,” Jeongin said, looking to Minho for confirmation. “So it's not insomnia. And I've never seen him panic like Lix-hyung so it's not anxiety. What are the other ones?”  
_“Depersonalisation_ ,” Seungmin piped up. “Un-person-making?” He tried to back-translate.  
“That sounds bad,” Hyunjin said.  
Felix nodded, pulling at a stray thread on his hoodie and not looking up. “Yeah my friend in high school had it. It was like sometimes she didn't feel like she's in her body anymore.”  
“Oh,” Jeongin said quietly and Changbin picked at his plate. Minho looked worried and opened and closed his hand a few times staring at it intently. Then he reached out and folded Jisung's hand to do the same as if he could keep the younger boy grounded through force.  
“Hyung isn't like that though,” Seungmin said frowning. “He's just angry all the time.”

“I'm not angry at you,” Woojin said softly. He was half hiding behind Chan, being tugged reluctantly back into the room. “I'm really sorry I yelled.” Woojin bowed in apology and Changbin rushed to pull him upright and into a hug.  
“I'm sorry too, what I said was mean. The curry arrived, come eat with me?” Changbin asked. Chan couldn't help but compare him to a toddler desperately seeking validation from a new friend.  
Woojin looked longingly at the steaming boxes in the middle of the table but shook his head. “I'm going to go to the gym. Take out my anger somewhere better.” He said, smiling gently and waved to the table before heading for the door.

“Did you find out what's wrong?” Seungmin asked as the front door clicked shut.  
Chan shook his head as he reached for the curry. “He wouldn't tell me,” he said dejectedly. “And he says he doesn't know why he keeps snapping at us, he's not really angry.” Chan shrugged. “I guess everyone just keep an eye on him.”  
The boys all nodded and mumbled that they would.

“Soooo,” Hyunjin said, eager to change the topic to something lighter. “What were you doing in the kitchen?” He waggled his eyebrows unsuccessfully.  
“We just talked,” Chan said but his ears tinged pink as he spoke.  
“Uh-huh,” Minho said mockingly. “What else?”  
Chan shoved a giant mouthful of curry in his mouth. “I hugged him? But I hug everyone.” He mumbled around the food, not looking anyone in the eye. That was true, Chan hugging someone was the opposite of gossip.  
Felix nudged Seungmin and gestured for him to watch Chan. He cleared his throat. _“Chan and Woojin sitting in a tree,”_  
Chan's head shot up at the opening line, fear in his eyes. This was not the English he wanted the Korean members to learn. Unfortunately for him they were all watching in rapt attention.  
_“K.I.S.S.I.N-”_ Felix spelled gleefully. Chan threw a chopstick to stop him but he was too late. Felix shrieked as the metal stick hit his forehead and ducked under the table but the damage was already done.  
“ _Kissing_!” Jisung exclaimed proudly, having sounded out the word to himself under his breath.  
“We weren't kissing,” Chan said hurriedly and if anything that made the situation worse.  
“Favouritism,” Changbin whispered to him and Chan let his head thud off the table as he buried his head in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *airhorn noise* popo popo!  
> Sorry that got Not Fun in the middle. I'm not planning on this being very angsty.
> 
> What's your guesses with Woojin?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE A WORKING LAPTOP AGAIN!!!   
> Enjoy

Chan had done his best to teach the Koreans the politest English so that even if they were confused or misunderstood people would still treat them kindly.  
Phrases like _“Can I please have-?” “Could you please help me?”_ and _“Thank you very much.”_ This had gone well initially.

_“Can I please have a will to live?”_ Changbin mumbled into the countertop as he stumbled into the kitchen the next morning.   
_“Sorry, Innie took the last one.”_ Felix replied in a disturbingly cheerful public service voice. _“Can I interest you in The Power of a Thousand Suns?”_  
Changbin lifted his head and frowned at Felix who was grinning proudly, leaning up against the counter as breakfast cooked behind him. He was probably too close the the hob, considering his history with cooking. Definitely too close, Changbin thought as a stray hair on the cuff of Felix's sleeve curled up with a tendril of smoke as the flames beneath the pot licked dangerously close to his wrist.

“Coffee?” Changbin asked after he'd had a second to process Felix's words.  
“Yes, coffee,” Felix said, handing him a pink mug already made exactly who he liked it. Changbin took the mug and pulled Felix with it away from the hob. Felix went willingly and stood with his head tilted expectantly as Changbin sipped it tentatively. Changbin hummed in appreciation as he felt the heat spread through his chest as he swallowed.  
“It's good, thanks Lixie,” he said, tucking the younger boy under his arm as he walked out the kitchen.   
“But- breakfast-,” Felix protested half heartedly, reaching a hand back towards the kitchen.  
“I think breakfast will do better without you there,” Changbin said, forcing the boy into the seat next to him at the table.  
Jeongin opposite them glanced up from his book and offered Changbin a small smile before returning his attention to the page.  
Seungmin briefly stopped poking Jeongin's side to make a face at the way Felix curled next to Changbin with a dopey smile.  
“Shouldn't you be watching the eggs?” Seungmin asked Felix.  
“Yeah,” Felix agreed happily.  
“Why aren't you?” Seungmin said, pronouncing the syllables slowly to try and get Felix's attention. The Australian had a habit of agreeing without fully understanding.  
“Yeah,” Felix said again.   
Seungmin's eyes widened with barely concealed annoyance. Changbin hid his grin behind his coffee cup and Jeongin's sparkling eyes flicked up to him before focusing back on his book.  
 _“Why aren't you watching the eggs, Felix?,”_ Seungmin said, having given up trying to get the message through in Korean.  
“Oh!” Felix said and his chair screeched as he stood to hurry back to the kitchen.

He was too late and the familiar blaring fire alarm announced to the dorm breakfast was burning. Better late than never he took the smoking eggs off the heat and swatted at the alarm with a tea towel.  
“Hyunjin-hyung!!!” Jeongin yelled, not looking up from his book. There was no reply to it but Chan did appear, dark bags under his eyes amplifying his glare.  
“HWANG HYUNJIN!” Changbin yelled with more urgency. “Now would be good!”  
“I'm in the shower!” Hyunjin's yell was muffled.   
“Who's fault was this?” Chan said exasperatedly. Two fingers pointed at Felix and two at Changbin.   
_“Changbin told me to come away from the eggs,”_ Felix protested.  
 _“If Changbin told you to jump off a bridge, would you?”_ Chan shot back.  
Felix grinned. _“Probably,”_ he admitted.

“He was going to burn himself,” Changbin blurted out, not entirely sure what was being said, but sure he was being blamed.  
Chan sighed. The smoke alarm continued its rhythmic warning and Minho drifted into the room, fitting the District 9 choreo to the beat. This got giggles from the crowd and Felix joined him, teatowel thrown over his shoulder   
“Are you sure you can't reach, Innie-ah?” Chan asked. “You've grown.” This was probably the only time Chan would admit it.  
“Hyunjin's arms are longer,” Jeongin said, stretching his own arms up and still no looking up from his book. “I'd still have to jump.”

Jisung had also appeared and joined the District 9 dance, screaming in time with the alarm. Chan shooed the dancers away and glared up at the alarm located infuriatingly high on the ceiling.   
“Binnie, come here,” he said.  
“No,” Changbin protested. “Lift Sungie.”  
“I'm either lifting you to turn off this fucking alarm or I'm lifting you to throw you out that window,” Chan's tone left no room for argument and 10 seconds later there was blissful quiet in the dorms.

“Ah, you got it,” Hyunjin said mildly, entering soaking wet with a towel wrapped around his waist, hair still plastered to his face. A puddle started to form where he stood.  
“Great help you were,” Seungmin grumbled. “Get back in the shower, there's shampoo behind your ear.  
Hyunjin scratched his head and smiled sheepishly at Seungmin as he noticed the bubbles. “Thanks, Minnie!” he called as he walked back to the shower, leaving a trail of drips behind him. Felix shuffled after him with the tea towel, mostly just spreading the water around as he tried to clean it up.  
“Thanks for nothing, beanpole!” Seungmin yelled back.  
“Not my fault you’re all too short to reach the button!” Hyunjin replied before slamming the bathroom door shut. He was lucky there was a lock between him and the other members after a comment like that.  
“I’ll bite your kneecaps!” Changbin screamed.

A pregnant silence fell on the room as everyone processed his words.  
“Kinky,” Minho said, waggling his eyebrows.   
Jisung slapped him on the arm.   
“Mmm, harder Hannie,” Minho moaned, enjoying watching the others suffer.  
Seungmin covered his ears and screamed. Then changed his mind and covered Jeongin’s ears instead but continued screaming. Jisung in panic made the mistake of hitting Minho again.  
“Lee Minho there are children present!” Chan shouted over the screams. That didn't deter Minho in the slightest.  
Felix tugged on Changbin's sleeve. “Hyung, what does kinky mean?” he asked, not entirely innocent. Changbin blushed and refused to tell him.


	7. Chapter 7

Within half an hour a grumbling huddle was gathered by the front door ready to leave for work. Grumbling because thanks to the cooking incident earlier all that was left for breakfast was fruit and plain rice.  
“1, 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7,” Chan counted under his breath. “Who's missing?”  
“Changbin-hyung,” Jisung said without looking up from his phone. It was always Changbin.  
“Binnie we will leave without you!” Chan threatened though everyone knew he would just send the rest ahead and wait for Changbin alone.  
“Yeah, and your tiny ass legs won't be able to catch us up!” Hyunjin added. He was still bitter about missing breakfast.  
Changbin came hopping around the corner, nearly dropping his phone and he tried to put his socks on with one hand. Seungmin took the phone off him and Minho straightened the cap shoved over Changbin's unbrushed fringe.  
“Every time, Binnie.” Chan muttered.

Chan did the head count again, unsure if he remembered to count himself the last time. He had. “We're still missing someone.”  
“Woojin-hyung,” Minho said. “He left a while ago for an early lesson. He seemed fine,” Minho added as Chan's eyebrows pinched in worry.  
“Ok,” Chan said, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. _“Let's go, out, everyone out.”_

_“I’m gay,”_ Felix said reflexively, not looking up from his phone as he wandered out the door.   
_“Same,”_ Changbin said in the same tone, steering Felix away from the doorframe.  
 _“I’m bisexual!”_ Jisung announced proudly.  
“That’s great, Sungie. Get out the house,” Minho said, unable to stop himself smiling back at the younger boy. Jisung walked backwards, still grinning, into Changbin and earned himself a shove in the direction of the stairs.  
 _“I’m Hyunjin,”_ Hyunjin said, well aware of what he was doing.  
 _“I thought you were Korean?”_ Seungmin answered him.  
 _“I have onions,”_ Hyunjin replied, looking smug. Minho didn’t follow.  
“Idiot!” Seungmin sang gleefully. “You mean _layers. ‘Ogres are like onions, they have layers.”_ Ah, they were quoting Shrek, of course.  
“Seungmin’s like an onion, he makes people cry,” Hyunjin retorted.  
Minho took a boy under each arm to separate them before actual crying was involved and manhandled them out the house.

_“God it's like herding cats,”_ Chan muttered, holding the door open as Jeongin dashed back into his room for something. Felix hopped up on the stairs bannister to slide down to the lobby despite being told repeatedly not to.   
“What are you doing to cats?” Minho asked suspiciously as Jeongin skidded out the door and bowled straight towards the huddle by the stairs. Minho blocked out the screams as Hyunjin fell down half a flight, his landing softened by an unfortunate Jisung.  
 _“Herding”_ Chan said, locking the door. “It's a saying. You know how dogs gather sheep together and get them to go where they want?” He explained, pulling Jisung off the floor absentmindedly as he passed and brushing down his jacket. Jisung pouted for sympathy and Minho picked him up. Jisung was incredibly light and Minho knew it would be no problem to carry him down to the lobby. It would save them time too if they wanted to get to practice even remotely on time. Jisung trusted Minho to hold him and wriggled in his arms to check his elbow for blood as evidence of his plight to his wrongdoers.

“Ah, herding.” Minho said in Korean. “That doesn’t work with cats.”  
“Exactly,” Chan replied. “It doesn’t work with Stray Kids either,” he said, gesturing ahead of them. All 5 other members were still in their line of sight which Minho thought was pretty impressive.  
“That’s because we’re Stray, Hyung,” Jisung said, jumping down out of Minho’s grip as they reached the street. Minho immediately missed the warmth. _“We can’t be tamed._ I can however be bought for cheesecake.”  
“You’re being paid actual money,” Chan reminded him. Something they all forgot sometimes after years of training that looked like it would never end. “You can buy your own cheesecake.”  
“Hmm,” Jisung pondered. “Interesting concept.” He then skipped off to join his age-mates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woojin's not here again, I know. I'm sad about it too but it's part of his current characterisation. Plus he's going to get more attention later. 
> 
> This chapter's just a filler, I'm trying out different perspectives and I just love every day chaos fics


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back! This fic is getting hard to write because I don't know what I want to focus on as the main storyline. So unfortunately for this chapter at least there is very little English shenanigans.

“Hyuuung!” Jeongin cried as Woojin entered the practice room. “You left us and Felix burnt breakfast!” He ran to the oldest member who automatically opened his arms to catch him.  
With their maknae clinging tight to him Woojin raised an eyebrow at Chan who shrugged. “We ate at the canteen.” Chan said, not explaining the chaos Woojin had missed.  
“You’re not as comfy anymore,” Jeongin complained absentmindedly to Woojin, headbutting his side before running off to bother someone else. Chan’s eyes narrowed at the comment and he quickly took Jeongin’s place, knocking the breath from Woojin’s lungs.  
“Innie’s right,” Chan said, voice muffled as he pressed his face into the collar of Woojin’s sweatshirt. “You’re much bonier. I can feel your ribs.”  
“I’m fine, Chan,” Woojin said curtly, pushing at Chan’s shoulders to get him to let go.  
Chan locked his arms and held tight. “You’re not fine, Jinnie,” Chan argued, tracing the bumps of Woojin’s ribs through his sweatshirt with one thumb. “God, I should have noticed.” He sounded close to tears and Woojin felt his resolve crack. He pulled the younger boy closer and pressed a kiss into his curly hair. This reaction was why he hadn't told Chan in the first place, he could never knowingly hurt him. “It's not your fault, Channie,” he whispered. “I've got it under control.”  
“ _Bullshit_ ”, Chan said roughly. Woojin knew that word and yeah, maybe Chan was right. 

Yah, ahjussis!” Hyunjin interrupted them. “This is hip hop not ballroom. Stop hugging so we can get started.”  
“I'm coming back to you,” Chan whispered a threatening promise as he pulled away. Woojin didn't doubt him for a second.

The room kept spinning a few seconds after each turn was finished and things got a little blurry towards the end of the song but Woojin had the choreo memorised in his bones and he knew he hadn't messed up. Minho though, could always notice if someone’s soul wasn’t in the moves and Woojin felt the dancer’s eyes on him as they took a water break.  
“You good, Hyung,” he asked casually as he sat down next to Woojin and handed him his water bottle.  
“I’m good,” Woojin lied.  
Minho hummed, accepting his answer but not believing it. “How about mentally?”  
“Mentally?” Woojin asked quietly, trying not to attract any attention from the kids.  
“Yeah. On a scale of 1 to 10. 10 being the day we were told we could debut and 1 being, uh, well, before JYP. How are you feeling?”  
Woojin couldn’t even begin to process all issues in his life down to one number. It was overwhelming.  
“I’m at a 7,” Minho said. “The kids burnt breakfast and today’s schedule is kinda boring but it’s been a good morning so far. I’m worried about you though. It’s not like you’re behind on the choreo or messing up your lines but there’s something not right and I don’t know how to help.”

“I’m at a 4,” Woojin breathed out eventually. The words felt so heavy in his mouth. Minho nodded and looked at him. Not expectant, just waiting if Woojin had more to say.  
“I’m trying,” Woojin started and then bit his lip, wanting to word it in a way that wouldn’t worry the younger boy more. “I’m trying to follow the company’s suggestions to improve.”  
MInho made a disapproving noise. There was more than one rule that Minho vocally disagreed with. “And is that making you happier or less happy?”  
“Less happy,”Woojin admitted. “But the staff say I’m better.” He added hurriedly. “I’ll be happier in the long run.”  
“The staff don’t know shit,” Minho grumbled and pulled Woojin into an aggressive hug, squeezing him with his arms and legs. “There’s no point in working yourself to the bone to meet someone else’s mold for you. I would know.”  
“You’re really not a rapper,” Woojin joked fondly. He didn’t quite agree with what Minho said but he felt lighter already.  
“I’m really not,” Minho agreed. “I’m a better rapper than you though,” he said, pulling back from the hug to grin cheekily.  
“I’ll have you know I carried N/S with that line,” Woojin said sternly, failing to stop the smile twitching his lips.  
“ _No ‘wassup man’, only ‘bye’,” _Minho said, rolling across the floor to his position as Chan called the end of their break. The rest of the practice went by easier and the blackouts during the spins got less intense. Minho didn’t call him out either when he stumbled once. He just caught Woojin’s elbow to steady him without missing a step and patted his back the next time they crossed by each other.__

____

By lunchtime they were all split up again to practice. Woojin planned to quickly grab some salad at the cafe and then head back to practice before the other members appeared but luck was not on his side. Chan sat opposite him before he’d even started with a mountain of food on his plate.  
“Is Chris hungry?” Woojin joked, picking at the leaves on his plate.  
“Not really, “ Chan answered and switched their plates.  
“Chan-” Woojin protested, reaching for his food.  
Chan batted his hand away. “Eat it, Jinnie,” he said, pushing his plate closer. “I know you didn’t have breakfast.”  
“I’m really not that hungry,” Woojin said. It was true in a way. He’d learnt to ignore the hunger and after a while it went away.  
“Woojin please,” Chan pressed.  
Woojin looked down at the pile of food in front of him. Chan always took larger portions, like Woojin used to. And there was so much bread. “I can’t eat this much at once right now,” he admitted quietly.  
“Do your best,” Chan replied, digging into Woojin’s salad. “You can work up to it.”  
His best wasn’t even half the plate but it earned him a dimpled smile from Chan as he shovelled down the rest of the food.

“You know, I’m still heavier than you,” Woojin said as he watched Chan eat. He didn’t know where all that food went. Was it turned directly into muscle? Or maybe it was burnt off with all the thinking Chan did every hour of the day.  
“Is that what this has been about?” Chan asked, no judgement in his voice. “Jinnie did you know the heaviest muscles in the human body are in the upper leg? You could crush me with your thighs, of course you’re going to weigh more. I'm trying to put on weight,” he said, indicating the empty plate. “Look how well that's going.” He half-heartedly flexed one arm but the material of his jumper still stretched tight.

“It's working, Channie. I've noticed.” Woojin assured him. Who couldn't notice when Chan wandered around the dorm in muscle tees with no respect for other people trying to concentrate.  
“So it's ok for me to have muscles but not you?” Chan prodded. Ok, Woojin fell into that one.  
“It's not the same,” Woojin sighed. “I'm not muscular. I'm just,” he shrugged his shoulders like someone trying to keep a wet raincoat from touching their skin. “Dense.”

Chan frowned intensely and stared at the table. Woojin could practically hear his brain overheating.  
“You don't know that word?” Woojin guessed.  
“I know it,” Chan protested, still staring intently. “It's in there somewhere.”  
If Chan didn't know the Korean, Woojin certainly didn't know the English.  
“I'm like a brick.” Woojin tried. “Very heavy, no shape.”  
“You are much nicer to hug than a brick,” Chan said. This was why it was impossible to argue with Chan.  
“Channie, when were you hugging a brick?” Woojin asked as they stood to put away their trays.  
“Last week. Well, it was many bricks stacked together. It was a wall, I hugged a wall.” When Woojin had put down his tray Chan jumped onto his back with no warning, wrapping his legs tightly around Woojin's middle. “Much nicer than a brick,” Chan announced, resting his cheek on Woojin's shoulder and letting the older boy carry him to his destination.

“I have a delivery for 2RACHA?” Woojin called as he pushed open the door.  
Two boys looked up from the computer.  
“We didn't order one of them,” Changbin said. “Can you return to sender?”  
“No.” Woojin shrugged Chan off his back. “That'll be 2 hugs please.”  
Jisung rolled his chair over and planted a sloppy kiss on Woojin's cheek. “Keep the change.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I didn't project onto Woojin too much. I'm trying to keep the angst to a minimum. 
> 
> I've had people tell me loosing weight would make me improve at my sport but not everyone is built to be skinny. I have a lot of muscle and that makes me heavy. Some idols are like that too and I wish more people would understand that. The same goes for other body types too. 
> 
> Anyway, hopefully I'll start updating this more regularly now that chapter is out the way


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was all getting a bit too sad. I swear I'm trying not to. Hopefully this is more funny than sad- tell me what you think.

“Ok,” Jisung said as soon as Woojin had closed the door. “What magic did you work Channie-hyung?”  
“I fed him. Dumb boy’s been starving himself.” Chan dropped into a chair and spun listlessly across the room.  
“What?” Changbin gaped. “For how long?”  
Chan scrubbed his face with his hands. “I don’t know. A while? When I hugged him at practice I could feel all his ribs.”  
“Fuck we’re terrible bandmates, how did we not notice,” Jisung said, tearing up.  
“Because he didn’t want us to,” Chan reasoned. “You all know about my insomnia which is why you know to check I'm sleeping enough but if you didn't know would you realise? Nobody did until Binnie was awake with me and it had been that bad for years.”

“It's not going to be years for Woojin-hyung,” Changbin said fiercely. He stabbed his pen at his notebook, digging deep angry lines in the paper.  
“We're having chicken for dinner, right?” Jisung piped up.  
“Oh, I think so,” Chan smiled. “Can you guys spread the word while I set up the track?”

***

“We had to wait forever for you guys,” Hyunjin complained when Jisung cheerily announced the return of 3RACHA to the dorm. “You’re lucky there’s any chicken left.” 

While other members had wandered off to kill time doing something more enjoyable Hyunjin had stared at the box trying to taste the chicken molecules in the air.  
“Bops don’t grow on trees, Mr Hwang,” Chan called as he wrestled his shoe off. “Did you guys start without us?”

“We thought about it,” Jeongin said sassily and Minho smacked him lightly on the back of the head. “No of course not darling leader how could we function without you,” Jeongin corrected.  
Chan came up behind him on his welcome-home-hugs round. “I know that was sarcasm Innie but it really feeds my Dad Ego.” he said, squeezing the maknae extra tight.  
“Dad Ego,” Seungmin snorted.  
“Daego,” Felix replied giggling. He gasped. _“Doggo.”_  
“Just eat the chicken, weirdos,” Changbin said exasperatedly, reaching past them for the box.

“Is this ok?” Chan whispered to Woojin once the kids were happily munching.  
“It’s ok,” Woojin assured him. “I’m ok, Channie. You don’t need to add me to your list of worries. I’ll look after myself.”  
Chan put down his chicken and searched Woojin’s face for a lie. “You’re still staying on my list of worries,” he decided. “Until you’re ribs are covered with muscles again.”  
Woojin rolled his eyes and stuck Chan’s drumstick back in his mouth to end the conversation.

The conversation would have been ended anyway as a squabble broke out over the last piece of soy chicken. While Chan would normally settle such an argument by eating the offending food item himself he felt some entertainment was in order.

“How about we decide who gets the chicken with a riddle? You lot have been slacking on the English again.”  
“Omg Hyung you’re such a Dad,” Jeongin complained. “What’s wrong with rock, paper, scissors?”  
“I don’t want the chicken anyway,” Minho said, pushing away his plate.  
“Lies,” Jisung called. “You can be on my team, Hyung. We can share.”

“Ok the riddle is: _what’s once in a minute, twice in a moment but never once in a thousand years?”_ Chan grinned around at unimpressed faces.  
_“Ha! I know that one. Can I eat the chicken?”_ Felix asked.  
_“No, don’t ruin it. Take my bit.”_ Chan grumbled, reluctantly relinquishing his food.

“What’s a _moment?”_ Hyunjin asked.  
“You know when Sungie and Minho-hyung get distracted trying to kiss each other and forget entirely what we’re doing?” Seungmin smirked.  
“Yeah.”  
“That’s a moment.”

“We do not,” Minho protested. “When?”  
“Hyung, there’s compilations on youtube it happens that often.” Felix scoffed.  
“I like kisses,” Jisung mumbled.  
Woojin patted his back. “We know, sweetie. That’s ok.”

“Why can’t it be in Korean?” Changbin whined. “Minnie’s going to win.”  
Chan sighed. “Fine, I’ll make a Korean version. Uh, What’s once in Lee Minho, twice in Kim Seungmin but never once in Christopher Bang Chan?”

“Hwang Hyunjin’s tongue,” Jisung blurted out and was immediately pushed from 4 directions.  
“I can’t believe you’re implying I’ve only made out with Hyunjin once,” Minho said, affronted.  
Hyunjin had gone bright red and Felix was trying to save Seungmin from choking on his water.  
“It’s not Hyunjin’s tongue,” Chan said exasperatedly. “It’s not anybody’s tongue,” he clarified as Changbin opened his mouth. “It’s the same answer as the English one.” 

Changbin turned his aegyo on Felix and Minho sacrificed the chicken on his plate to stop the young Aussie sharing all his secrets.  
“Come one guys,” Chan said as they descended into chaos again. “You all know enough English to get this.”  
“Even Woojin-hyung?” Seungmin scoffed, recovered from his fit and pointedly not making eye contact with Hyunjin.  
“Even Woojin-hyung.” Chan confirmed and Minho narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

 _“I'm fine thank you and you?”_ Minho tried.  
“That's once,” Felix said helpfully, only confusing the members more.  
“Can you write it down?” Jisung asked and Chan smiled proudly.  
“Oooh Hannie's on the right track.”

“Don't give him hints!” Hyunjin screeched as Seungmin pulled out his school bag and hastily scrawled the two riddles underneath his chemistry notes. Dinner was forgotten by the younger members as competitiveness took over and they gathered around the notebook. 

“Why did you have to write in cursive,” Changbin complained.  
'Fuck you, that's why,’ Seungmin wrote in looping letters under the riddles.  
Giggles surrounding Changbin told him he was being made fun of but it was another couple of seconds before he could decode the letters. “Hey!!”

“Anyone got it yet?” Chan teased over the bickering.  
Jeongin hesitantly raised his hand, still counting letters on the page. Finding the answer he wanted, he shot Chan a beaming smile and grabbed the drumstick, eagerly biting into it with a satisfying crunch.

“You didn't say the answer!” Seungmin protested as Jisung leapt up to physically take the chicken off the maknae.  
“Mmmm,” Jeongin moaned happily. “Tastes like victory.”  
Chan cackled. “Innie wins!”  
“What's the answer?” Hyunjin demanded.  
Felix took Seungmin's pen and circled the clues. “It's the letter M.”  
Groans broke out, now the answer was so obvious.  
"That's a shit answer," Changbin decided. He wasn't dumb, the riddle was dumb.

 _“Bold of you to assume I know the alphabet,”_ Woojin told Chan under his breathe, self-conscious of his accent in English.  
_“I'm terribly sorry, what would you like as a consolation prize?”_ Chan whispered back.  
“Huh?” Woojin said. There was at least one long word he'd never heard before.  
_“A hug?”_ Chan feigned confusion. _“Can do.”_  
Woojin squeezed Chan back. “Sneaky Channie,” he scolded fondly.

“Give us another riddle, Chan-hyung!” Seungmin yelled, unnecessarily loud.  
“I need to beat Minnie!” Jisung said, dashing off to his room for his lyric notebook.  
We're out of chicken?” Minho reminded him as Jisung sat back down, pen poised.  
“This is about honour, Hyung,” Jisung said, deadly serious.  
Minho smiled to himself and snuck a glance at the rapper's latest lyrics.

 

“What word in the dictionary is spelled incorrectly?”  
“Visual,” Changbin said cockily. “It should be spelt S.E.O.C.H.A.N.G.B.I.N.”  
Minho threw a chopstick at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone know the answer to riddle two? I was picking translatable ones that wouldn't be ruined by writing them down but I know some really good ones.


	10. Chapter 10

The next day spirits were higher and Woojin took the doting of his younger brothers with a smile, joking along with them. Productivity took a bit of a dip but Chan allowed it, happy just to see everyone smiling. 

Seungmin skipped into practice late and sat down next to Felix, rocking to contain his excitement. “I learnt a new word in my lesson today,” he said proudly.  
“Hmm?” Felix answered, sipping from his bottle. A flush stained his cheeks from early practice with the dance line.  
_“Capti-captibating,”_ Seungmin announced.  
“ _Ah! Captivating. Do you know what it means?”_ Felix slipped into English to test his friend. He and Chan were also trying to get as many Aussie accents in the group as possible and Seungmin’s lessons were lowering their odds by bringing back his American.  
_“Takes all your attention,”_ Seungmin said confidently. _“Your freckles are captivating."_  
Felix blushed and looked shyly at his lap.

 _“Freckles?”_ Jeongin asked liltingly, turning to join the conversation.  
“I told Lix his freckles were captivating. They take all my attention.” Seungmin informed him.  
“Are you sure?” Jeongin asked. “Day6 went live on Vapp 20 minutes ago,” He informed Seungmin, smirking in the knowledge of his predictable response.  
Seungmin's eyes widened and he raked through his backpack for his phone. “Why didn't you tell me earlier!” he wailed, nearly dropping his phone in his rush to unlock it.  
“You were busy telling Lix-hyung he was _captivating,”_ Jeongin said, revelling in Seungmin’s anguish. Felix flicked his nose for causing mischief and Jeongin ducked his chin to grin devilishly.  
“That was before I knew there was Day6 content,” Seungmin said, hushing the younger boy unnecessarily as he unravelled his earphones, eyes already glued to his phone screen.

A sudden scream rang through the practice room and everyone turned to look at Minho who was grinning proudly. “Get stretching bitches” he announced.  
“You know there are better ways of getting our attention,” Changbin muttered. “Like, literally anything else.”  
“Anything?” Minho asked, holding his fist up with a smirk.  
“You know what, screaming is fine,” Changbin quickly backed away. “Very efficient, non violent, I love it.”  
“That's what I thought, Binnie Binnie,” Minho said letting Woojin pull him away from the younger boy.

“Seungmin!” Chan called seeing the boy still huddled in the jacket pile by the couch. “Seungmin!”  
_“But Day6..”_ Seungmin whined, eyes not leaving the screen.  
_“But Stray Kids..”_ Chan mocked him. “Come on, the video will still be there when we're done.”  
“But it's not the same,” Seungmin pouted, briefly looking up to give Chan his puppy eyes.  
“I'll text YoungK and get him to stop the stream until you start practice,” Chan threatened.  
“Do you think he'll say my name?” Seungmin gasped, missing the point of the threat entirely.  
Chan rolled his eyes and hauled Seungmin to his feet. “Come on, we've got to focus on our own work.” He reached for the phone and Seungmin twisted away to buy himself a few more precious seconds.  
_“But they're captivating,”_ Seungmin whispered, putting up no more fight as Chan took the phone and locked it.  
_“Ooh, fancy. New word?”_ Chan asked, leading the younger boy into the middle of the room for stretches.  
_“Yeah,”_ Seungmin answered, finally focused on the task at hand. 

***

“Hyunjin get off the maknae, he's got school in the morning,” Chan called through the dorm. He couldn't see the boys but Jeongin had cried out and Chan had witnessed the situation enough times to believe him.  
_“He's captivating!”_ Hyunjin cried gleefully.  
Chan walked towards the noise.  
_“He's just captiving,”_ Jeongin moaned into the mattress, voice muffled.  
_“Holding you captive?”_ Chan asked, pulling Hyunjin off and slapping his butt to send him out the room.  
_“Yeah, captiving.”_ Jeongin said.  
_“I don't think that's a word,”_ Chan replied. He wasn't entirely sure. It sounded plausible but Chan didn't remember ever hearing that word before.  
_“It should be,”_ Jeongin retorted.  
Chan frowned. His English was fading and Jeongin made a good point. _“Oi, Felix!”_  
_“Yeah?”_ came the reply from across the hall.  
_“Captiving?”_ Chan asked. He didn't have to explain further. This happened more often than he wanted to admit.  
_“Capturing,”_ Felix replied immediately.  
_“Thanks mate!”_  
_“No worries!”_

 _“Capturing,”_ Chan told Jeongin at a normal volume.  
“Yeah, I heard,” Jeongin deadpanned.  
“Sass me again and I won't save you next time you get _captived.”_ Chan said, pointing a warning finger.  
“Woojin-hyung will save me,” Jeongin grinned, crawling under his duvet. “I'm his favourite.” He pulled out his phone and settled down to watch mukbangs.  
“You're everyone's favourite, Innie,” Chan said and leant down to press a kiss to his hairline. “Don't watch those too late,” he warned reflexively. Jeongin could never stay awake long once he lay down anyway. Chan tries not to think about how that might be a sign of sleep deprivation and turned off the light.

***

“ _Channie-hyung! I'm captived!”_ were the first words Chan heard as he woke up, screamed through the bedroom door.  
“Leave Channie alone, he's sleeping,” Woojin scolded whoever had called.  
_“But I'm captived,”_ Jisung said mournfully.  
“If this is about Minho hugging you you brought this on yourself when you crawled into his bed this morning.”

Chan looked at his phone, put it back down, then looked at it again having retained no information from the first time. 11.43am. He should have gotten up hours ago. Groggily he sat up, blinking as his brain processed the new information. The bed swayed slightly, reminding him he had a climb before he could stand up. He of all people should not be the one climbing down a ladder first thing in the morning. His shins were collage of bruises from daily failed attempts.

“Innie bit me!” Jisung protested outside the door.  
“What does Innie have to do with Minho hugging you?” Woojin asked. 

Chan put one foot on the ladder. Something about it felt odd. How do people normally get down ladders? Facing it? But then how do you get your feet down? Chan calculated the distance- it wasn’t that far to jump.

“I climbed into Innie’s bed first but he bit me!” Jisung said, affronted.  
Minho murmured something too quiet for Chan to hear and Jisung screamed. “What the fuck, Hyung!”

Chan decided the ladder was too complicated and let gravity do the work bringing him to the floor. Gravity wasn’t kind enough to firmly place his feet under his body and he stumbled sideways on landing, slamming his shin against the sturdy corner of the drawers. Chan bit back a whimper and screwed up his eyes against the pain.

“Channie?” Woojin asked, opening the door. Minho and Jisung peered around his shoulder curiously.  
“‘Mfine,” Chan gasped. “Just banged my shin.”  
“Again,” Minho added dryly.  
“Yes, again,” Chan grumbled as Woojin helped him up. Jisung insisted on ‘kissing it better’ but couldn’t tell which bruise was from that morning so Chan patiently stood still as Jisung made it his personal mission to kiss every bruise on Chan’s legs.

“Kissing my bruises is all well and good Sungie,” Chan said, “but what about the kiss that caused yours.”  
“Mine?” Jisung asked, confused.  
Chan raised an eyebrow at him. “Yeah, the huge hickey on your neck. You better cover it before work.”  
“Hickey?”Jisung said in confusion, his hand coming up to his neck. His fingers brushed over the freshly swollen skin and he turned to glare at Minho. “Ya! Lee Minho what the fuck is wrong with you!”  
Minho giggled and shoved Woojin between them before dashing to the door, “Gotta gay!”  
Jisung was hot on his heels.

“Since when..?” Chan trailed off as the boys crashed through the dorm. There were too many possible questions.  
Woojin understood. “It’s not a real hickey. Minho has no impulse control so when Jisung said Innie had bitten him earlier-”  
“-Minho felt the urge to bite him,” Chan concluded with a sigh. “Why am I not surprised?”  
“Also Innie was teaching Changbin how to crack an egg so we need you to get up soon to eat the biggest omelette ever created.” Woojin told him with a grin.  
“Created by whom?” Chan asked worriedly. There was about 3, no- 3.5, people in the dorm he trusted to cook eggs to an edible state. 0.5 was standing in front of him and 2 were racing around the dorm Chan's chances didn't look good.  
“Changbin.”  
“Don't play Wow at my funeral.”  
“Can't promise that, _nice guy.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any attempt at plot has run away from me.  
> It's just nonsense now


	11. Chapter 11

“Come on, Hyung,” Minho said irritably after the third run through of their dance. The moves weren't completely set yet and some members were still messing up having not memorised the routine fully. Despite that, their choreographer wanted to see the whole thing clean by the next evening to finalise the official choreo. 

Minho was slightly stressed to say the least. Organising everyone like this used to be Chan's job pre-debut. _Everything_ used to be Chan's job pre-debut but the older members especially were doing their best to carve out chunks of his responsibility for themselves. 

Minho's experience in dance was much greater than Chan's so it only made sense that group dance evaluation went to him. That was just as well as Chan was currently the member holding them up the most. It wasn't exactly that he was getting the moves wrong, they were just sluggish and half-hearted like Chan didn't really want to move at all and was just going through the motions.

“Sorry, Min,” Chan said, offering a half-smile. He blew the air out of his lungs slowly and shook his head as he settled into the start position. Minho paused with his finger on the play button. Something about that motion sent alarm bells ringing. He caught Jeongin staring at him, waiting for him to move, and knew he wasn't the only one.

“Hyung?” Minho asked in a questioning tone that caught the whole room's attention.  
Chan looked up. “Yeah?”  
“Do you feel sick?”  
“I'm not going to be sick,” Chan answered quickly.  
“That's not what Minho-hyung asked,” Seungmin pointed out.  
“I’m fine,” Chan bluffed, forcing a smile.  
“ _Liar, liar, pants on fire,”_ Felix sang, gently dragging his fellow Aussie over to the sofa.  
_“What's on fire?”_ Hyunjin asked in concern.  
_“His pants,” _Felix replied unhelpfully.__

Now Chan wasn't trying to hide it he had curled up in a ball, hands kneading at his stomach, a pouty frown on his face. Woojin sidled up to the monitor and swiftly opened 3RACHA’s discography. 

_“His pants are not fire”_ Changbin pointed out.  
Felix rolled his eyes but couldn't help smiling at the cute pronounciation all the same. _“It rhymes with liar,”_ he explained. “It's just what you say when someone tells an obvious lie.”  
“Why?” Jisung asked and was surrounded by many other expectant faces.  
“I don't really know,” Felix admitted. “Hyung?” 

If Chan did know they wouldn't find the reason as a familiar flute riff played through the high quality speakers. Jisung screeched and lunged for the computer but Minho neatly caught him around the waist, lifting the lighter boy off the ground. 

“I'm not dead yet!” Chan yelled, bringing up his shoulders to block his ears.  
Woojin cackled and skipped ahead to Chan's verse for maximum effect. Changbin crouched on the ground and re-evaluated his life's choices. No amount of deep complex lyricism could save him from the shame of his youth. 

“Woojinnnnie,” Chan moaned, “my stomach already hurts, please don't.”  
Woojin turned down the music, having got what he wanted. “Your stomach, huh? It really was the eggs.”  
Chan moaned again, leaning into Hyunjin's side. 

“Changbinnie-hyung you fucking poisoned Channie-Hyung,” Seungmin scolded but there was an edge of glee in his voice and he nudged the older boy to topple him over.  
“He didn't have to eat them,” Changbin protested, picking himself up off the floor.  
“My mum taught me not to waste food,” Chan said, clearly regretting being such an obedient child.  
“What Changbin-hyung made was not food,” Jeongin grinned, darting out of the way of a retaliation slap. 

“I'll be fine in 10 minutes,” Chan tried to take the attention off himself so he could focus on keeping air in his windpipe and not his breakfast .  
_“Liar, liar, fire in pants,”_ Hyunjin sang disjointedly.  
_“Pants on fire,”_ Felix corrected giggling. 

_“Why pants on fire?”_ Changbin questioned. _“Fire is on pants, pants are on butt.”_  
_“Liar, liar, pants on butt!”_ Minho corrected, earning a round of high fives.  
“That's just how you say it in English,” Felix said, exasperated.  
“English is dumb,” Woojin concluded.  
“You've got me there,” Felix admitted. The more he tried to help teach his members English the more he realised there were no rules in English and it was a hobbled Frankenstein of a language. 

“Are you guys going to keep practicing?” Chan reminded them. This is due tomorrow.”  
Minho narrowed his eyes at their leader who was paler than usual and huddled pathetically but the truth was they had to present the choreo the next day regardless.  
“You're not going to throw up?” Hyunjin asked. Chan had a stomach of iron but Changbin was also notoriously bad at cooking. The fact Chan ate the eggs didn't mean they were actually edible. 

“I won't throw up,” Chan promised. “I just need to sit out a couple of run-throughs until I've digested everything. And I don't want to even see an egg for at least a week.”  
“Hey!” Seungmin yelled, affronted. “Don't take it out on the eggs!” 

To Chan's credit he was dancing again in 15 minutes. His moves were certainly less energetic than normal and he skipped the spins entirely but Minho had no doubt the older boy would come through when they were evaluated. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I have a weird request dear readers.
> 
> If you speak second language (or third, fourth) would it be the equivalent of pants on fire or fire on pants?
> 
> Also if you guys wanna teach me to say liar liar pants on fire in different languages that would be really funny.
> 
> Woojin was a little premature with Wow for Chan's funeral but at least it served a purpose.
> 
> Also I hear some of you wouldn't want wow at your own funeral. Why not? It's a bop. 
> 
> Get cremated, your relatives arent going to understand past woooow she's hot, hot. That's how to make sure you're not forgotten.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I would like to say thank you to all the wonderful people that taught me about their languages in the last chapter. That was really interesting.
> 
> Secondly, I am so sorry for the delay in this. I wrote this chapter in a notebook that I lost (and found again) and I didn't want to skip this scene I'd written. Hopefully it's worth the wait.
> 
> Also these are almost one-shots now so a slow update shouldn't leave you hanging

Jisung wasn't really paying attention as he pushed open the practice room door but the sad slow beat made him look up from his phone. Hyunjin was dancing in the dark- most of them did when they were alone- but he wasn't messing about freestyling like normal. Instead smooth choreographed moves flowed, full of emotion. Jisung caught the end of the chorus just before Hyunjin's noticed him _“I kinda wish you were gay"._

"You alright there, Jinnie?" he asked lightly, slinging his bag into the corner.  
"Yeah," Hyunjin's replied, red-faced. "Why?"  
"Your expression was really strong, is all," Jisung said.   
"I, uh, I'm practicing my stage presence," Hyunjin's mumbled, stopping the song and Jisung could tell a million miles away it was a lie. _Liar, liar, pants on butt._

"Are you telling a story?" Jisung asked, crouching down by the mirror Hyunjin was facing.   
Hyunjin shrugged noncommittally   
"Do you know what the lyrics mean?"  
"Yeah," Hyunjin paused, "some of it. I was thinking of using the countdown for something.'  
"There's a countdown?" Jisung asked. To be honest, he'd only heard the song a couple of times in a shuffle play and his mind was somewhat focused on another factor of the song.

Hyunjin hummed and skipped to the monitor to restart the song and then skipped back to sit next to Jisung.  
Jisung pulled up the lyrics and Hyunjin settled on his shoulder to see the screen though Jisung knew he couldn't read it fast enough to keep up.  
"5?" Hyunjin asked and Jisung hummed in answer.  
"4. 3. 2. 1," he said quietly in time with the song. Hyunjin was cutely singing along to the parts he knew. Most of it was correct.

"So, what were you thinking for the countdown?" Jisung asked. He should start stretching and actually get some work done but something told him this was an important moment. It almost felt fragile, like the delicate trust he had with Hyunjin here would shatter if someone walked in.

"I can show you," Hyunjin offered. He was always better with actions, whether it was with a smile at just the right moment to cheer you up, a hug when you least expected it or a strong fluid dance to hypnotise you.

This dance didn't fail to draw Jisung in, especially as Hyunjin dimmed the lights and his jewellery sparkled with every twist of his body. The moves were best described as feminine- not something that would make it into a Stray Kids choreo but something Hyunjin was undeniably good at. Not breaking his flow he jerked his head to the side at almost every number count as if he was shaking off a fly or a nightmare.

As the last chord played, Hyunjin's character broke and he grinned shyly at Jisung, bouncing back over to hear his opinion.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Jinnie?" Jisung teased as Hyunjin flopped down next to him. Hyunjin shoved him harshly to one side, toppling Jisung over, and took a large gulp from his water bottle.  
"Why would I want to seduce you?" Hyunjin scoffed as Jisung sat back up.  
"Cos I'm like, really pretty?" Jisung replied, batting his eyes.  
"I'm like, really prettier," Hyunjin giggled.

"Yeah," Jisung admitted, standing and pulling the sweaty boy to his feet, "but you can't date yourself, thot, so you're going to have to settle for someone else." Jisung ineffectively wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.  
"I think you're taken, Sungie," Hyunjin said condescendingly. Jisung had no idea where he got that idea from but before he could ask the practice room door burst open.

It made sense that Minho was here, considering Jisung had asked him to help with the choreo. However, Jisung kind of wished a stray typhoon would suck the dancer back out of the room again so he could finish his conversation.  
Minho made a face at them, sitting in silence in the dark. “What are you doing?”

“Hyunjin’s teaching me his choreo,” JIsung quickly lied and he had no idea why. They weren’t doing anything secretive.  
“Not practicing the new choreo?” Minho asked.  
Hyunjin stuck out his tongue. “You know I’ve got that already.”  
“Show me this then.” Minho said. It wasn’t a question.

Jisung rolled his eyes. “I obviously just got here. I don’t know any of it.”  
Minho crossed the room and sat, slinging an arm around Jisung. Jisung happily settled into his side as Minho lifted his chin and let his calculating gaze fall on Hyunjin. “Ok. Hyunjinnie- show me.”  
Hyunjin laughed nervously. “Uh, I’m still working on it, Hyung. Maybe later.”  
“What’s the song?” Minho asked.  
“Wish You Were Gay” Hyunjin said carefully.  
Minho nodded contemplatively and didn’t say anything.  
“Billie Eilish?” Hyunjin said to fill the silence.  
“Yeah, I know the song,” Minho said, crooning the title lyrics suddenly. Jisung thought he might have had a small heart attack. Minho seemed blissfully unaware.

“We’re going to go over Victory Song,” Minho told Hyunjin. “Do you want to join?”  
“I should probably go have dinner,” Hyunjin excused himself. “I’ve been here a while.”  
“Don’t forget your cooldown stretches!” MInho called as Hyunjin waved on his way out the door.

“Was Hyunjinnie having a gay panic?” Minho asked once he was gone.  
 _I’m having a gay panic,_ Jisung thought, still thrown from Minho’s singing. It was crazy because he heard Minho sing everyday.  
“I think so,” Jisung remembered to answer Minho’s question a beat too late. He started to copy the dancer’s stretches so he wouldn’t just stare blankly. “His dancing was a little too raw if you know what I mean.”  
Minho moved to stretching his legs, gesturing for Jisung to sit opposite him and link hands. “Do you know the source of the gay panic?” Minho asked.  
 _Who’s panic?_ Jisung thought, leaning back to pull Minho’s torso towards him.  
“No,” he retorted. “I might have if you hadn’t scared him off.” He pulled a little too harshly, relishing in the way Minho let out an undignified squeak.

“Who do you think it is then?” Minho changed tack.  
Jisung huffed out a laugh. “It could be anyone but me of the members younger than you.”  
Yeah, you’re taken,” Minho agreed.  
 _Why did people keep saying that??_

Jinnie’s definitely got favourites though,” Minho added. “Innie’s probably number one.”  
“Innie’s everyone’s number one,” Jisung countered. “That doesn’t prove anything.”  
“He’s not my number one,” Minho muttered.  
“How could you say that, Hyung! He’s our baby!”

Minho ignored him, turning away to put on some music for them to finish warming up to. That was the end of the conversation then. ‘Wish You Were Gay’ was still queued up when Minho pressed play.  
“Wanna freestyle or copy me?” Minho asked.  
 _Oh._ They were dancing to this and not a hype song? Perfect.

“I’ll copy,” Jisung said weakly. That was a terrible mistake as to copy Minho dance he first had to watch Minho dance. Minho’s moves were smooth and controlled with a powerful anger to them Jisung hadn’t noticed in the song before. His dancing was a poor imitation and Minho must have noticed him struggling as he switched to one of their old choreos that Jisung already knew by heart.

Well, he should know by heart.  
“Seriously, Sungie,” Minho sighed and stopped. “I went over this last week. How have you forgotten it again already.”   
Jisung felt his cheeks reddening. Minho didn’t scold him like Chan would though. He just shook his head fondly and held the first position still so Jisung could copy. 

Minho switched positions seamlessly while Jisung stumbled through the changes but Minho always waited until he had it before moving on. Slowly them built speed, getting into the rhythm as Jisung’s muscle memory took the lead again as he watched the muscles ripple under Minho’s shirt.  
“Honestly. Does nothing stay in that head of yours?” Minho teased when they reached the end.  
 _You do,_ Jisung wanted to reply but he held his tongue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you liked that or you prefer all nine of them. I'm trying to build some characters but I'm not sure where this is going


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me- updating  
> who would have thought

_"Good morning, Sunshine!"_ woke Hyunjin as his covers were rudely ripped from his grasp. Hyunjin faintly registered that there was light outside the window and Minho was the one standing over him but chose to ignore both those facts in favour of the comforting embrace of unconsciousness. He rolled over, trapping his arms between his body and the mattress for warmth and planted his face firmly in his pillow to block out the light.

Minho took his pillow.

"Hyuuuung," Hyunjin moaned, making a feeble attempt to get it back.  
"Hyuuuuunjin," Minho whined back. Come on, even Chan-hyung is up."  
"Good for him."  
"Jinnie, come on. We're all tired but we have to practice."

The guilt trip. Hyunjin's second greatest weakness, after Jeongin's eyes.  
"I'm coming," Hyunjin said, making no move to get up.  
"Jinnie."  
"I am. Just give me a minute to get my eyes open." Hyunjin rolled over and make a show out of peeling his eyelids apart.  
Minho snorted and dumped Hyunjin's duvet back on top of him. "Five minutes. Then I'm sending Woojin-hyung in," Minho warned as he left. Hyunjin whined dramatically at the thought, burying under his duvet. 

He must have drifted off again because it did not feel like five minutes had passed before someone else was in the room.  
"I'm getting up!" Hyunjin did his best to sound alert.  
There was a soft scoff. "No you're not."  
_Oh, it was only Seungmin._

His duvet was yanked off of him again. _Seriously, did he have no privacy in this house?_  
Seungmin smiled softly down at him. "Your hair looks dumb."  
"Your face looks dumb," Hyunjin replied, too sleepy to find a better comeback.  
Seungmin pulled a horrific face that would haunt Hyunjin's dreams forever. "Good."

Hyunjin knew Seungmin had been to the public image lectures same as him but the younger boy just didn't seem to care. It made Hyunjin's worries about his own appearance seem silly.  
“Are you already ready?” Hyunjin asked as Seungmin sat primly on his bed and opened a textbook. “Are you _studying?”_  
_“Yes, I am,”_ Seungmin replied in his model English and turned a page.  
Hyunjin rolled out of his bed, duvet and all, with a groan. “Minnie, I can’t compete. Please leave some skills for us mortals.”  
Seungmin didn’t look away from his textbook  
“Actually- can I study Korean Lit with you later? I’ve got a test next week.” Hyunjin rolled towards Seungmin’s bed and pouted up at the other boy. “Please?”  
“You’re better at Korean Lit than I am,” Seungmin said. He placed his foot on Hyunjin’s chest and shook him. If Hyunjin wasn’t awake before he sure was now.  
“But you’re so good with details, Minnie,” Hyunjin rained the compliments. “I always forget to study a huge chunk when I do it by myself and then I get lower marks. I need you, Seungminnie.”

“Only if you help me with physics,” Seungmin mumbled shyly.  
Hyunjin beamed up at him. “Deal! Are you free after group practice?”  
Seungmin frowned as he thought. “I said I’d run a guide with Changbin-hyung today but we can probably get that done before lunch.”  
“Perf-”  
“Hwang Hyunjin, are you still in bed?” Woojin interrupted them. It was said with a friendly smile but Hyunjin didn’t doubt that Woojin would kick his ass to Australia if he thought he needed it.  
“Technically.” Hyunjin held up a finger. “Technically, I’m on the floor.”  
Woojin was unimpressed by that distinction but Seungmin giggled quietly into his textbook.  
“Come on, Jinnie,” Woojin encouraged him, pulling Hyunjin, duvet and all, off the floor in one fluid movement. “Your lesson is before mine."

“I thought I was at 11?” Hyunjin asked, shivering as he changed his shirt.  
“I’m 11,” Woojin said. “You’re 10.30.”  
“Ah.” Hyunjin tried not to show that he’d started rushing. “That would explain why Minho-hyung tried to get me up earlier.”  
Woojin wasn’t fooled for a second. “Do you want me to make you rice to go?” He ran a brush through Hyunjin’s hair as the boy struggled into some sweatpants and patted down the rogue hairs.  
“Don’t bother. I’m going to have to run,” Hyunjin admitted reluctantly, tugging on some socks that may or may not have been his. His deodorant wasn’t where he left it. Typical. “HAN JISUNG!”

“WHAT!” Jisung yelled back at the same volume, though with significantly less aggression.  
There was no time for pleasantries. “DEODORANT!”  
“TABLE!”  
It was indeed on their bedside table. Small mercies. He wasn’t going to thank Jisung in case the boy got the idea he was free to use Hyunjin’s deodorant whenever he wanted. He had his own and Hyunjin knew he was just too lazy to get it out of his bag.  
“GOT IT!”

“Have a nice run!” Seungmin sang sweetly as Hyunjin sprinted out the door in an attempt to at least be near on time to his lesson. Demon puppy.  
Half way through his mad dash through the streets of gangnam, just as his breath was starting to taste like blood, Hyunjin remember that the song he was supposed to have practiced was in English. Not that he hadn’t practiced- he had- it was just going to be much harder to get his sleep-addled brain to recall the lyrics. Chan sang it around the dorms all the time so with any luck the words would just come to him in the moment.

Hyunjin arrived perfectly on time to his lesson, breathing heavily through his nose as his chest heaved. The teacher wasn’t even waiting on him, still chatting amicably with the teacher after his own lesson. He wished he hadn't taken the stairs. The lactic in his legs was starting to burn and it was taking an awful lot of willpower not to collapse to the floor.

“Hi, Jinnie.” Felix beamed.  
Hyunjin let out a strangled noise in return.  
“Did you run here?”  
_‘No, I cartwheeled down the pavement,’_ Hyunjin wanted to say. It was pretty obvious he hadn't taken his sweet time. “Uh,” was all he actually managed to say.  
“Hyunjin, come in,” the teacher said with a smile. “Would you like some water before we start?”  
She was one of the nicer teachers and Hyunjin didn’t want to waste her time so he pulled out his water bottle and held it up, not daring to speak yet.  
Felix bowed to the teacher and left with a sarcastic, “fighting, Hyunjin!”

“Would you like a copy of the lyrics?” The teacher asked once Hyunjin had set down his stuff and stumbled through some vocal warm-ups. His throat was already pretty warm anyway from the blood coating it earlier.  
“Yes please.” Hyunjin didn’t care if he sounded desperate. He’d just be mumbling English-sounding noises in the verses otherwise.

***

“Your pronunciation is very clear, Hyunjin. Good job.” The teacher praised him before they moved onto his Stray Kids lyrics. “It’s interesting to hear that even though the original song is by an English singer you had an Australian note to yours.”  
“No guesses where that came from.” Hyunjin smiled. That comment brought more pride than any about the quality of his singing. He had an honorary Aussie status to obtain. “Ed Sheeran is one of Channie-hyung’s favourite singers.”  
“So you’ve heard the song more in Australian than English?” the teacher deduced.  
“Definitely.”


End file.
